Santa's fire truck rounds interrupted by emergency

For years, Santa Claus has made a pre-Christmas visit to the Southwood community - nestled between the city of Syracuse and Jamesville - riding atop one of the big fire trucks from the Southwood Volunteer Fire Department.

He was making his annual visit Saturday evening when the traditional ride was interrupted by an emergency call for firefighters to respond to a car skidding off Interstate 481 and rolling down the embankment shortly after 6 p.m.

Southwood Fire Chief Tom Bouvia said firefighters quickly stopped the fire truck and got Santa down and into a warm place before the truck sped off to the crash scene. After a delay, Santa resumed his trip through the neighborhood on the truck even as some of the firefighters were called away a second time for an ambulance call at the Iroquois Nursing Home, Bouvia said.

Bouvia said he could not recall the annual Santa visit ever before being interrupted by emergency calls. The interruptions forced Santa to skip the traditional carol-singing visit with the residents of Barrett Manor, the chief said.